Blue Corn Chip Crusted Cauliflower Gratin + a GIVEAWAY

 ~~~~~~~~THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED~~~~~~~~

In honor of Celiac Awareness Month, Frito Lay is sponsoring a recipe contest for Recipe Redux members where we have to create gluten-free recipes that use at least one of their snack chips as a replacement for traditional gluten-containing ingredients.  Gluten free foods can't contain barley, rye, or wheat.  There are many alternative grains and flours on the market making it easier for people with Celiac disease to expand their palettes.  Some popular gluten free flours are corn, tapioca, rice, arrowroot, and amaranth.  Frito Lay is working hard to implement a gluten-free validation process in order to meet FDA standards.

The Reduxers were given a list of approved chips to use in our gluten free recipes.  I chose TOSTITOS® SIMPLY NATURAL™ Blue Corn Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips since they have a gorgeous hue and I love adding color to my dishes.  I crumbled them onto a healthy cauliflower broccoli gratin for a satisfying veggie-filled dinner.  

Shavuot +Frittata Muffins

Shavuot is coming up this weekend and with it comes some serious eats.  This Jewish holiday celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot for multiple reasons, making it one of my favorite holidays.  When else do I have an excuse to keep cheesecake in the house??  But don't forget to practice moderation and try to double up on veggies instead of lasagna.  

We were lucky enough to be able to share some of the holiday meals with our friends, one of which I'm co-hosting with my friend Yoni.  We decided on a Mexican theme and had a lot of fun brainstorming the menu.  One dish that I knew would make the cut were my Frittata Muffins.  I stumbled upon a recipe for egg muffins back in February on Cooking Healthy For Me and immediately adapted it to my tastes.  I swapped spinach for broccoli, cut out the bacon, and added crumbled goat cheese to really make these my own.  These muffins are packed with nutrition and good flavor.  They make an excellent breakfast on-the-go or a tasty side dish.  And because they're muffins, they're already portion controlled.  1 serving = 2 muffins.

Broccoli Cheese Frittata Muffins Yields: 12 muffins Ingredients:  1 T EVOO 1 small onion, diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 c frozen chopped broccoli 6 eggs 1 T milk ½ t salt ½ t pepper ½ c buttermilk baking mix 5 oz goat cheese Directions: 1.    Grease a 12 cup muffin tin 2.    Preheat oven to 350 F 3.    Sauté the onion and garlic in EVOO until translucent 4.    Add broccoli and cook until soft 5.    In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and buttermilk mix together. 6.    Add the broccoli onion mixture to the bowl and stir to combine 7.    Pour the egg mixture into the muffin tins until ¾ full 8.    Make more muffins if there’s extra batter 9.    Crumble a little goat cheese on each muffin 10. Bake around 25 minutes or until lightly browned

Feel free to swap in your favorite veggies or cheese if you don't have a preference for mine! What healthy dishes will you be making this Shavuot?

Fish and Mercury

There is no denying that fish is part of a heart healthy diet.  It's a good source of protein, rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and packed with B vitamins.  But with all the information out there about mercury in fish, a contaminant which in excess may affect brain development and the nervous system, which fish are the safest to eat?   Luckily, the content of mercury in all types of fish has been researched and documented on the FDA's website.  Here is a list of the more popular fish- for a more extensive list, visit the FDA.
I broke it down into highest to lowest mercury content.

• HIGHEST: Avoid
• HIGH: Three 6 oz servings per month
• LOWER: Six 6 ounce servings per month
• LOWEST: Two 6 ounce servings per week

Highest	High	Lower	Lowest
Swordfish	Chilean Sea Bass	Bass (Striped, Black)	Anchovies
Shark	Grouper	Carp	Clam
King Mackerel	Tuna (canned white)	Cod	Flounder
Tuna (bigeye, Ahi)	Tuna (Yellowfin)	Halibut	Herring
Tilefish		Lobster	Oysters
		Snapper	Perch
		Tuna (canned light)	Salmon (canned, fresh)
			Sardines
			Scallops
			Sole
			Tilapia

I have included kosher and non-kosher seafood in my list for the general public.  I want to thank Josh Leinwand for suggesting this topic.